Kansas Budget

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Kansas House and Senate negotiators are preparing to go back to work on a new state budget with hopes of bringing the legislative session to a close.

Negotiators met briefly on Wednesday and scheduled more talks for Thursday afternoon. Differences remain over funding for higher education and how to spend the savings from the state’s adoption of a new Medicaid system.

Talks on the roughly $14.5 billion budget for the fiscal year that starts July 1 have been slow to gain momentum since lawmakers returned May 8 from a monthlong break.

The budget bill also includes a blueprint requested by Gov. Sam Brownback for state spending in the following fiscal year.